(Lin'an City)
Lin'an City, into the night.
Southern Song Dynasty Imperial Palace.
A sleeping child was picked up by a pair of strong hands, then carried on his back, galloped on his horse, left the palace, and headed south.
The owner of these hands was a man, born tall and burly, with a heroic spirit, carrying a child behind him, galloping on a horse, and in the blink of an eye, he had galloped out of ten miles.
He rode up a high slope and pulled his horse back.
In the distance, Lin'an City is still brightly lit and prosperous.
The man on the horse had tears in the corners of his eyes, clenched his fists tightly around the reins, and then sighed deeply.
He turned the horse's head again, and with a soft sigh, the horse galloped again, and in a moment disappeared into the night.
Who is this person?
Who were the children he had taken away from the palace?
Where did they come from and where are they going?
If you want to know this, you have to start with a person named Chen Yizhong.
Chen Yizhong, Zi and Quan, Wenzhou Yongjiaren, Jingding Three-Year Jinshi, Late Southern Song Dynasty Prime Minister.
When Chen Yizhong was appointed as prime minister, the situation of the Southern Song Dynasty was already in danger, and the Mongol army in the north was going south, and the Southern Song army that fought lost its armor and abandoned its armor, and was defeated and retreated, seeing that it was about to approach the city of Lin'an. (Capital of the Southern Song Dynasty)
After Chen Xuanzhong took office, in line with the concept of "endure the calm of the wind and waves for a while, take a step back from the sea and the sky", in the face of strong enemies, either peace talks, or forbearance, or compromise, anyway, do not send troops to fight back, under his miraculous operation, the Southern Song Government soon ushered in its own end.
(Portrait of Chen Yizhong)
The second year of Deyou, the fifth day of the first month of February.
The government of the Southern Song Dynasty faced the fierce Mongol iron horse and decided to surrender the whole country.
Since it was to surrender, the emperor of course had to personally surrender the city, but a small number of ministers in the Southern Song dynasty government had different opinions and ideas.
Although the Mongolian army is besieging the city now, Lin'an City cannot be saved, but many important towns in the south have not been breached by the Mongols, still in our own hands, the current emperor Song Gong Emperor Zhao Yu will definitely fall into the hands of the Mongols that did not run, but the Zhao royal family still has blood, we can completely carry out a strategic transfer, with the Zhao clan relatives who can succeed to the throne to run in advance.
Such a brilliant idea, of course, no one objected, so there was the scene at the beginning of the article.
On the eve of the surrender of Lin'an City, the uncle of the state, Yang Liangjie, went to the sleeping hall at night and took away Zhao Fu, the King of Yi (in fact, he took away two children, Zhao Fu of Yiwang and Zhao Fu of Guang), leaving two traces of blood for the Southern Song Dynasty.
Although Lin'an fell, Zhao Yan escaped, and he traveled all the way to the south, and was soon proclaimed the new emperor by some ministers of the main war faction who were entrenched in the south and did not want to surrender, known as Song Duanzong.
That year, Zhao Yan was only seven years old.
(Song Duanzong, Zhao Yun)
A seven-year-old child became the last straw of the Southern Song Dynasty, but what could he do at this moment, facing four crises?
The answer is that nothing can be done.
But fortunately, Zhao Yu had two very capable and loyal ministers under his hands.
One of the two ministers was named Lu Xiufu and the other was named Wen Tianxiang.
Let's start with Lu Xiufu.
Lu Xiufu, Zi Junshi, a native of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, baoyou four years into the army.
Since childhood, when the Mongolian army besieged Lin'an, he once went to the Mongolian army camp as an ambassador of the Southern Song Dynasty to negotiate peace.
In essence, peace talks are not easy work, and the culture of the Central Plains pursues "two countries are at war, do not cut each other", but the fierce northern peoples can not care about this set, so Lu Xiufu went to talk with the Mongols, and if he did not get it right, he would lose his head.
Of course, Lu Xiufu, who is straight and strong, is not afraid of losing his head, not only is he not afraid of losing his head, he also plans to argue with the Mongolian generals, and it is best to rely on his own three inches of non-rotten tongue to let the other side retreat.
Such a person, you can call him a reckless man, you can also call him a hero.
But before Lu Xiufu could rush to the Mongolian army camp, the Southern Song Government had already taken the lead in surrendering.
Lin'an fell, and there was definitely no way back.
Faced with such a situation, the choices of the southern Song ministers were different.
Either surrender or retreat.
Lu Xiufu did not choose these two, he heard that zhao yun of the Zhao clan of the Southern Song Dynasty had escaped from the ascension to heaven, and without thinking, he immediately went to defect.
Don't leave a way back for yourself, just run for the dynasty.
These two poems of mine are not well written and do not rhyme, but they are very appropriate to describe Lu Xiufu himself.
Lu Xiufu (left) Wen Tianxiang (right)
Coincidentally, Wen Tianxiang, who defected to the little emperor Zhao Xuan with Lu Xiufu, lu Xiufu was no stranger, they were both Baoyou's four-year jinshi, and it can be said that they participated in the work together.
In contrast, Wen Tianxiang's resume is even higher than Lu Xiufu's, and when he was admitted to the army, Wen Tianxiang's results were the first in the country.
Therefore, Wen Tianxiang is a proper college entrance examination winner.
But this Yuanlang also has a straight personality, after entering the DPRK as an official, he very despises the atmosphere in the court, even if he looks down on it, the same dynasty is an official, it is inevitable that I will not look up to you, you can't look up to me, but Comrade Wen Tianxiang is a person who can't hide his thoughts, and often speaks out to ridicule others, which leads to Wen Tianxiang's mixing in the Southern Song Dynasty court has not been very good, often ostracized by people.
How about a method of exclusion? According to Wen Tianxiang's skills, he can be said to be one of the most capable officials in the post-Southern Song Dynasty, with culture, ability to govern the country, martial arts, and war.
But it is such a person, but he can only do some idle work without real power and painless.
Moreover, even such a position must be excluded everywhere.
Wen Tianxiang was not a person who could endure such political oppression, and at the age of thirty-seven, he asked himself to do so.
What is the meaning of self-request, which means that Wen Tianxiang really can't stand the bad atmosphere in the official field and resigns.
He was once extremely disappointed in dark politics, but he still had a heart to serve the country.
Zhao Yan was exiled to the south, and was soon proclaimed by Lu Xiufu as the new Emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty in Fuzhou, and of course, The patriotic Wen Tianxiang of Geng Zhi would not miss the opportunity to serve the country, he raised money everywhere and was appointed as the Right Minister, but everyone knew that Wen Tianxiang had a straight personality and was not easy to get along with, so the imperial court only let him lead his troops outside and fight guerrillas.
As the core figures of the newly established Southern Song Government, Lu Xiufu and Wen Tianxiang had a very simple idea, when the Jin Dynasty fell to the Northern Song Dynasty, the reason why the Southern Song Dynasty was established was precisely because the founding emperor Zhao Zhuo set up a small political power in the south, and the Song Dynasty was saved.
Now that the Southern Song Dynasty is facing the same problem, we can also establish our own small imperial court in the south, not to mention that at this time, there are still some points in the hands of the Song people.
Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu and other places still have many cities and pools still resisting the attack of the Mongolian army.
Here, we would like to highlight the Diaoyu City and Lingxiao City in the Sichuan region, when most of Sichuan had fallen, but these two small mountain cities were still fighting to the death, indomitable and heroic.
At this time, the Southern Song Government still had about 200,000 troops, and if it was properly commanded, then the victory or defeat was not yet known.
That is to say, although the Southern Song Dynasty was downcast, it had the strength to collide with the Mongolian army.
However, the ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty at that time did not think so, because since the founding of the Song Dynasty, the competition with the northern regime for many years had hardly taken advantage.
He was beaten to the ground by the Liao Dynasty, beaten violently by the Jin Dynasty, and now chased by the Mongol regime.
The heart that had once been hot and beating was now dead silent, and in the face of the enemy, they were only timid and cowardly, and there was a trace of luck.
The ministers believed that the Jin army was chasing Song Gaozong, and after arriving in the south, because it could not stand the humid and hot weather in the south, the march was slow, and soon withdrew.
The Mongols have lived in the north for a long time, and when they go to the south, they are estimated to feel that they can't stand it, can't stand this kind of humid and hot weather, and the march will be slow, and if they don't get it right, they will also retreat.
If the Mongolian army retreated, then the Southern Song Dynasty had a chance to breathe.
It is precisely because the ministers have this kind of thinking, so from the beginning of the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty, the small imperial court has been cowering and cowering, step by step, hoping that the heavens can take care of the Southern Song Dynasty and let the Mongolian army retreat to the north like the Jin Dynasty in that year.
This kind of approach, which is almost a prayer for heaven's mercy, can be said to be quite ridiculous, and the "Art of War" of Sun Tzu says that the upper soldiers cut down the plot, followed by the cutting of the friendship, the second cutting the soldiers, and the next siege of the city.
This means that the best way for two armies to fight is to win by strategy, followed by diplomatic means, followed by defeating each other's troops, and finally attacking each other's cities.
Strategy, diplomacy, confrontation with the enemy, siege of the city, these means are normal, but when the country survives, what is the touching operation of asking for the blessing of heaven?
Soon, the southern cities were lost one after another, and Yangzhou, Zhenzhou and other places fell one after another.
The consequence of the loss of the two cities was that the Southern Song Dynasty lost its last stronghold north of the Yangtze River, and it was completely useless to try to go north.
There was no way, the small court had to pack up and escape.
They fled from Fuzhou to Quanzhou, from Quanzhou to Chaozhou, from Chaozhou to Huizhou, these southern cities built pavilions, listening to perfume pavilions, but the city defense is not strong, the middle is not useful, the ministers are afraid that the city will be breached at any time, most of the time actually spent on the sea.
(Southern Song Dynasty courtiers drifting on the sea)
Going round and round, it's all back to square one.
If they don't know where they are staying now, Emperor Gaozong of Song also stayed in the sea area.
Jingyan II, 1277.
The Fleet of the Song Army sailing on the sea was hit by a fierce hurricane, and the large ship was blown into three ways, seven and three, and in the panic, the little emperor Zhao Yun did not stand still, and actually fell into the sea, and after catching it, he was shocked and frightened, and died in two days.
It is said that the protagonist of this article is Zhao Yun, but the text basically does not mention him much, not that I do not want to mention, but through the historical data, there is really nothing to mention.
He was the last emperor and shouldered the great cause of restoring the country, but in fact he was just a nine-year-old child.
The emperor is the most respected person under the heavens, but the emperor is also the most pitiful person in the world.
You can think about this sentence carefully.
Is it too harsh and unreasonable to blame the fate of a country's demise on a child who is less careless?
The little emperor died, but the Southern Song Dynasty was still surviving.
Soldiers everywhere were killed by the Mongol army and lost their armor, and the ministers in the court were panicked and pregnant with ghost fetuses.
The mountains and rivers have fallen, and it is difficult to return to the homeland.
Maybe the Southern Song Dynasty really wants to say goodbye to everyone.